Why West Ham should move for Gonzalo Plata with an eye on the future

A report from the Sun (h/t MSN) back in November handed West Ham a massive boost in their pursuit of Ecuadorian starlet Gonzalo Plata. The Hammers had been linked with the Sporting Lisbon winger back in the summer alongside Premier League rivals Leicester City but no deal materialised. 

The report added that Newcastle and Brighton have also joined the race to sign the 20-year-old. Sporting Lisbon weren’t prepared to do business in the summer but the Portuguese giants have opened the door for the youngster to seek a move away in January. (The Sun h/t MSN)

Profile

Gonzalo Plata started his footballing education with L.D.U Quito in Ecuador and completed his development at Independiente del Valle, where he also made his competitive debut in 2018.

The highly-rated winger made just 13 first-team appearances for Independiente del Valle but showed enough potential to earn a coveted move to Europe with Sporting Lisbon in January 2019.

After impressing for the club’s U-23 side, the 20-year-old was promoted to the first-team last season. Plata went on to make 27 appearances for Sporting in all competitions in 2019-20, contributing with 3 goals and 2 assists in the process. That also included 12 starts in the Primeira Liga, with the youngster catching the eye in his breakthrough campaign.

However, Plata has found regular game time hard to come by this season. The Ecuadorian has made 11 appearances in all competitions so far, registering a couple of assists, but has been limited to a solitary league start. 

Despite his tender years, Plata has already established himself in Ecuador’s senior international set-up, scoring thrice from 8 caps so far. 

A good long-term investment?

West Ham’s immediate priority in January should be to bring in a new striker following the departure of Sebastian Haller to Ajax earlier in the month. The Hammers, though, should be open to the prospect of adding more depth and quality in other areas of their squad.

To that end, the potential availability of Gonzalo Plata in the mid-season trading window presents an excellent opportunity for David Moyes to capitalise. The youngster is not quite the finished article and is yet to establish himself as a regular starter for Sporting.

But his early potential certainly points to a bright future in Europe, having made quite an impression in Portugal last season.

Jarrod Bowen has established himself as one of Moyes’ trusted lieutenants out wide after joining the Hammers from Hull City in January last year. But Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini have offered very little and are clearly not fancied by the manager.

Considering that Pablo Fornals isn’t a natural wide player, either, a potential deal for Gonzalo Plata would put West Ham in good stead moving forward. The Ecuadorian starlet is essentially a right-winger by trade, owing to his left-footed nature. However, he’s also capable of playing out wide on the other side, thus potentially making him a useful asset to the Hammers.

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Verdict

Moyes’ arrival at the club has been marked with a drastic shift in West Ham’s transfer strategy. The Hammers have had a lot of success in the market by signing young and developing players like Bowen and Tomas Soucek.

Gonzalo Plata looks like a bright emerging talent in a similar mould and would represent an excellent long-term addition to the ranks.